


manners maketh the man

by Seito



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Anger Management, Crack, Fire, Gen, angry iggy is angry, when in doubt set things on fire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-12
Updated: 2019-02-12
Packaged: 2019-10-26 19:55:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17752463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seito/pseuds/Seito
Summary: Beware the nice ones, they said.This statement did not apply to Ignis.There was nothingniceabout Ignis. He was polite, yes. Manners maketh the man. But Ignis shared far more with his namesake than people realized. He was fire. He was steel. Ignis took it upon himself to sharpen his blades, his words, his personality, to be the Hand that Noctis deserved.(A steel knife was still cool to the touch and did little to hide the fact that it could still kill someone.)





	manners maketh the man

**Author's Note:**

> I saw [this tweet](https://twitter.com/akkaccel/status/1094986730913124353) and my hand slipped.

Beware the nice ones, they said.

It was a good saying. One well known and supported. All one had to do was look at Prompto Argentum to know there was truth in that statement.

(Prompto was all smiles and laughs. He was also fully capable of putting a bullet between an enemy’s eyes from 300 yards away and would do it without any hesitation if the choice down to an enemy or his friends. To this day, Ignis had no idea how anyone could look at Prompto and think ‘soft’.)

Beware the nice ones, they said.

This statement did not apply to Ignis.

There was nothing _nice_ about Ignis. He was polite, yes. Manners maketh the man. But Ignis shared far more with his namesake than people realized. He was fire. He was steel. Ignis took it upon himself to sharpen his blades, his words, his personality, to be the Hand that Noctis deserved.

(A steel knife was still cool to the touch and did little to hide the fact that it could still kill someone.)

What Ignis had was a wellspring of patience. He could, if required, deal with pompous council members, tackle mountains of paperwork, work tirelessly until his hands cramped and his jaw clenched impossibly tight.

But every so often, that wellspring dried up and like a fuse finally lit, Ignis would exploded.

That was where Noctis came in.

-.-.-

Noctis figured it out first. It was no surprise. He and Ignis had been joint at the hip since Noctis was four going on five and Ignis was six.

Ignis was ruthless. And unless your name was Noctis Lucis Caelum, you weren’t safe from his wrath. Noctis could vividly remember the day Ignis, eight and so, so, so angry, yelling at Regis. The upside was Noctis got more time to spend with his dad. The downside was Ignis got sent to Crownsguard training which meant less time with Ignis. But training, which was another upside.

The ultimate downside was that teaching Ignis how to wield daggers created the urge to stab people when Ignis finally got angry enough.

Enter one Demolition Room.

There was a set of training rooms set aside for Royal Family to practice in, especially when it came to magic spells. Noctis (after much badgering to his dad) set aside one of the smaller ones, had his dad ward it with the strongest protection spells and add in a bunch of weapons and targets to it.

Then one day, when Noctis caught that particular glint in Ignis’ eyes as yet another lady in the court reached out to pinch Ignis’ cheek and coo, Noctis dragged Ignis off to the Demolition Room, handed him a hammer and let him destroy a bunch of status Noctis took from the garden.

An hour later, covered in dust and twenty status completely smashed to rubble, Ignis let loose a heavy sigh and hugged Noctis tight. “Thank you, Noct.”

“Anytime Iggy.”

-.-.-

Things hadn’t change much as they grew older. Possibly only more destructive. Ignis learned elemancy with Noctis and suddenly fire was an option. (And it was always fire. Ignis had perfect control over Blizzard and Thunder too, but when Ignis was angry and stressed, fire was always the first thing that came out.)

Paper targets of specific council member also made their way into their room. So did copies of law books.

Ignis gotten more colorful with his language, venting his frustrations as he swung the hammer to destroy the ugly abstract of circles and swirls statue that represented water. (Noctis never stopped stealing statues from the garden and Regis tiredly signed off the bill to have the gardeners replace the missing statues.)

Noctis would just sit and wait. After an hour or two, Ignis would stop, tiredly hug Noctis and Noctis, in an odd reversal of their roles, would fuss over him and drag him back to his Uncle where Ignis would sleep for the rest of the day, anger and frustration completely spent.

It was a good system they had.

(Notably, as a result, over twenty laws were updated or removed, three council members arrested, one was banished and forty procedures restructured and refined.)

“Thank you for paying attention, Noct.”

“Anytime, Iggy. Dad does want me to remind you that we’re not allowed to actually murder council members though.”

-.-.-

Gladio found out by mostly being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“Hey Iggy-”

Gladio went flying across the room. He stared at Ignis, stunned as he rolled back onto his feet. For a slender fifteen year old, Ignis managed to throw him fairly far.

Ignis snarled at him, pivoting on his heel and resuming his march down the hallway.

“Ignis!”

Gladio grabbed Noctis who had been darting after Ignis. “Whoa there princess. It looks like Ignis is pretty upset. We should probably leave him alone.”

Noctis glared at him. “I know that, Gladio! I’m trying- Ignis Scientia!” He shouted, sounding so much like his father, a command that stopped Ignis in his tracks.

Noctis crossed his arms. “We are not allowed to actually murder council members, remember? And if you think I can come up with a plan to break you out of jail, you’re overestimating my ability to strategize without you.”

Ignis snarled.

Gladio watched, half fearful for Ignis’ reaction as Noctis rolled his eyes, and reached out to tug Ignis back down the hallway they had just come from.

“Come on Gladio,” Noctis said, in a tone that bore no argument. “You might as well see this so you know what to do next time instead of letting Ignis throw you around.”

Gladio gaped and wordlessly followed the two of them to one of the training rooms. Noctis shoved three magic flasks into Ignis’ hands, each one glowing red. “Go on Iggy.”

Ignis clutched the first one and lobbed it at the first statue. “YOU BLOODY IDIOT! THAT’S ISN’T HOW PROCEDURE GOES!!!”

“Um, what?” Gladio asked as the room lit up into flames.

“Iggy’s got a temper,” Noctis said patiently.

“If you had asked me that five minutes ago, I wouldn’t have believed you,” Gladio said. Ignis was one of calmest, well mannered people Gladio knew. Just standing next to Ignis made Gladio feel like a slob and he was the one with the higher peerage. Hell, Ignis made men double his age look like slobs.

“He hides it well,” Noctis said. “But sometimes that patience dries up and you get a pissed off Ignis. When that happens, just redirect him to this room. It’s warded pretty strongly and full of things that Ignis can destroy and smash into bitty little pieces.”

Gladio watched as Ignis grabbed a nearby sledgehammer and completely destroyed the nearest statue into a fine powder. “Um-”

“Council member Saxi has been bothering Ignis for like three days now,” Noctis said. His tone was mild, as if he was discussing the weather and not watching Ignis whip out his daggers and viciously stab one of the wooden dummies before lobbying another magic flask and setting it on fire.

“Anyways, dad said we’re not allowed to murder council members, no matter how much of an idiot they really are,” Noctis continued. “Something about it taking too long to train new ones. So letting Iggy metaphorically murdering them in here, he vents the worse of his anger. He’ll crash after he’s done; you can help me carry him to his rooms. By tomorrow, he’ll have a counterargument that will viciously tear apart Council member Saxi’s plan and make a mockery of him at the same time.”

Gladio watched as Ignis grabbed a broadsword and cleave another plaster statue into two. He swallowed hard.

“Remind me not to get on Ignis’ bad side,” he said.

Noctis snorted. “Gladio, if you ever get on Ignis’ shit list, you won’t walk away alive.”

-.-.-

Prompto found out shortly after their high school graduation.

“I need your help,” Gladio said.

“Sure thing, big guy,” Prompto said with cheer. “What are we doing?”

“Kidnapping Iggy. You’re my best defense since Noctis is currently stuck with his dad in that meeting,” Gladio said.

Prompto as previously mentioned was one of those nice people who one should tiptoe around. As a result, he was very aware of other people who were just like him (but not necessarily nice). In other words, kidnapping Ignis ranked in Prompto’s top five things that never ever be done.

“Excuse me?” Prompto said.

“Look, if you’re with me, Ignis will be less inclined to murder me because he likes you and doesn’t want to traumatize you,” Gladio said.

“I’m sensing a but here,” Prompto hedged.

“Worse case is he tries to murder us both,” Gladio said. “But I’m pretty certain he’s angry on your behalf. There was a Crownsguard meeting and your application was brought up.”

Ah. Prompto narrowed his eyes. Well in that case… “Fine,” he said. “But I’m hiding behind you.”

-.-.-

Actually kidnapping Ignis was… interesting.

Gladio only broke one bone in the process. So that was a win. And yes, having Prompto around did help.

Prompto watched, memorized as Ignis yelled obscenities about racism and applications forms and cleaving wooden dummies, beheading them. “Does he do this often?” Prompto asked.

“At least three or four times a year,” Gladio said. “Noct made this room for Ignis to blow up shit up.”

An explosion went off as Ignis burned the destroyed wooden dummies with a magic flask.

“Huh, interesting,” Prompto said. Ignis always read super dangerous to Prompto. It was why Prompto went out of his way to never get on Ignis’ bad side.

“Is it wrong that I find this really hot?” Prompto finally asked as Ignis went through his twenty fourth statue with a sledgehammer. “It’s like terrifying to watch, but it’s also really hot.”

Gladio let out a bark of laughter. “No. Both Noct and I think it’s the hottest thing ever.”

-.-.-

“Your Majesty!”

Noctis looked up to see one of the newest Kingsglaive barging into the room Noctis had claimed as his office. “Yes?”

“The gardens are on fire!” she said.

Noctis nodded. “Is it spreading out of control?”

“N-no?”

“Then don’t worry about it,” Noctis said.

“But!”

Noctis threw her an amused look. Things hadn’t changed much in ten years. “It’s just Ignis. He’s venting.”

“Lord Scientia?”

Noctis hummed. Honestly, he never understood why people were so intimidated by Gladio. It wasn’t a slight against his Shield, but Gladio was a softie at heart. Prompto was hiding a no hesitation trigger finger and Ignis made it his life mission to destroy people who were a threat. Gladio was the least intimidating in Noctis' opinion. 

“He’s just angry about the budgeting issue,” Noctis said patiently. And honestly, Noctis was a hair trigger away from joining Ignis about the budgeting issue. “He’s venting.”

“With fire?!”

Noctis snorted. “It is his namesake.”

**Author's Note:**

> When in doubt, set things on fire. 
> 
> Please leave a review on your way out :D


End file.
